Cerity Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of PriceSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:PSMT) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,560 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in PriceSmart were worth $510,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of PriceSmart by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in PriceSmart by 76.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in PriceSmart by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 9,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $801,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in PriceSmart by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of PriceSmart by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 80.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of PriceSmart from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 30th.

Insider Activity at PriceSmart

In related news, EVP Francisco Velasco sold 827 shares of PriceSmart stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.03, for a total transaction of $75,281.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 84,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,681,566.55. The trade was a 0.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP David R. Price sold 2,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.24, for a total value of $253,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,505,370.56. The trade was a 5.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,290 shares of company stock worth $1,476,009. 18.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PriceSmart Stock Performance

PSMT stock opened at $91.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.45. PriceSmart, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.87 and a 1 year high of $94.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $90.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.71.

PriceSmart (NASDAQ:PSMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.07). PriceSmart had a net margin of 2.83% and a return on equity of 12.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that PriceSmart, Inc. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

PriceSmart Profile

PriceSmart, Inc owns and operates U.S.-style membership shopping warehouse clubs in the United States, Central America, the Caribbean, and Colombia. The company provides basic and private label consumer products under the Member's Selection brand, including groceries, cleaning supplies, health and beauty aids, meat, produce, deli, seafood, and poultry.